Ewes bellowed at each other, the ferris wheel lifted its passengers to the clouds and the smell of freshly popped kettle corn hung in the air. Just a regular day at the New Jersey State Fair Sussex County Farm & Horse Show.

The 81st annual event kicked off on Friday at the Sussex County Fairgrounds, and will run through Sunday, Aug. 13.

The old fashioned, family friendly state fair offers attractions and novelties including racing pigs, a petting zoo and a Queen of the Fair Pageant. The event also has monster truck rides, demolition derbies, motocross and BMX shows.

Anthony Bernabe, of Franklin, said this was the first time he’s been to the fair, although he’s been to the State Fair Meadowlands, the annual event is simply too crowded, Bernabe said. Besides his young daughter, Gaia, can’t get enough of the petting zoo, he said with a smile.

Read the entire NJ.com article here. Originally published on Aug. 5, 2017.

A 16-year-old boy with special needs was safely returned home thanks to a pilot program designed to assist first responders.

A good Samaritan alerted the Manasquan Police Department on July 23 an unaccompanied teenager was seen walking along the street, said Manasquan Police Chief Michael Bauer.

Something “seemed off” about the general demeanor of the boy, which prompted the passerby to call police, Bauer said.

Although police don’t know how long the teen went missing, Manasquan Police were able to return him home within minutes of responding to the 911 call, Bauer said.

The teen was listed on the Monmouth County Special Needs Registry, a voluntary program for families and individuals living with disabilities ranging from autism to veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. The pilot program was launched in March 2016.

Read the entire NJ.com article here. Originally published on Aug. 8, 2017.

A day before the Queen City Mentoring Academy would graduate its new class of cadets, the Plainfield Police Department staged a distracted-driver accident.

As the program’s five charter buses drove towards Hubbard Middle School, sirens were blaring and a single officer was darting to the scene of a “wrecked” vehicle, quickly assessing the “accident.”

An unmarked police vehicle sped towards the scene, then came local EMS workers, screeching down the street from both directions. Plainfield Fire Department Truck 3 was next to arrive.

The workers cut away at the “demolished” car that “struck” a large tree just outside of the local school. First responders removed two bloodied passengers, taking the victims away on stretchers as the children watched in awe. One of the passengers was “killed” at the scene. Some of the Queen City kids were moved to tears by the shocking event, which is designed to teach the cadets about the dangers of distracted driving.

This year marks the fourth annual Plainfield Police Department’s Queen City Mentoring Academy, a summer day camp for children entering the 5th through 8th grades. The three-week mentorship program started in the summer of 2014, and is designed to educate its participants about county government, the judiciary, emergency services and law enforcement.

This year’s program includes 60 cadets, and 15 junior mentors — program alumni who help facilitate the camp.

Read the entire NJ.com article here. Originally published on July 29, 2017.

According to the National Weather Service, the remainder of the flash flood watch has been cancelled as of 9:30 a.m. While additional showers are expected, the threat for widespread heavy rain and flooding has ended, the update stated.

Between 6 p.m. Saturday and 6 a.m. Sunday, showers will gradually taper off over the southern portions of the forecast area.

The National Weather Service said a gale warning has been issued for Lower Delaware Bay based on observational trends, and will remain in effect until 2 a.m. on Sunday.

Along the coast, northeast winds will run 13 to 16 mph but farther south they will be as high as 18 to 23, increasing to 24 to 29 mph in the afternoon. Those winds could gust as high as 39 mph, the weather service says.

Three men were arrested for armed robbery after exiting the Wells Fargo building on the corner of Smith and Maple streets on Friday afternoon, authorities said.

Perth Amboy spokeswoman Noelia Colon said the incident did not take place in the bank itself, but that the building has additional commercial space above the bank.

A 911 call was placed by the alleged victim at 2:11 p.m. Perth Amboy Police apprehended two of the suspects as they exited the building. The third suspect was arrested shortly after a brief foot chase, according to police.

Police searched the area and said they retrieved the stolen goods, including cash and other items. The Perth Amboy K-9 unit was used to retrieve the loaded weapon, according to police accounts.

A Perth Amboy Fire Department truck was parked at the corner of Maple Street and Jefferson Court and its ladder was extended to the roof of the building at 319 Maple St., for about an hour after the incident.

A car accident involving a single vehicle and a NJ Transit train has left one person dead.

The 7232 train running on the North Jersey Coast Line route bound for New York City struck a car at the Bethany Road crossing in Hazlet at 12:32 p.m. Service between Hazlet and Long Branch was temporarily suspended in both directions.

Penny Bassett, spokesperson for NJ Transit, said the person killed is believed to be the driver of the vehicle.

NJCL service is suspended in both directions between Hazlet & Long Branch due to train (1/2)

The driver was a 90-year-old man who drove around the railroad gates and was struck by the train, according to a press release.

Bassett said 145 passengers were aboard the train at the time of the accident, but no one was injured.

NJ Transit is looking to create a bus bridge between Hazlet and Long Branch, but that effort has been delayed because of heavy traffic in the area, Bassett said.

The vehicle was lodged under the train and caused a temporary stop in service between the two stations. Passengers may experience delays up to an hour in both directions due to the accident, according to NJ Transit.

“She had a big heart,” said Dezirae Alvarado. “If you ask anybody, they don’t have anything bad to say about her.”

“She was the backbone, she held our family together,” said Dezirae. “She was our glue.”

Alvarado, 38, was shot last Friday on a New Brunswick street in broad daylight. She died at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Tuesday evening. Christian Cortes, 25, of North Brunswick, was arrested shortly after the shooting.

Magdalena Morales, Alvarado’s mother, was at the family home at the time of shooting. When Morales heard the gunshots, she ran to the window and saw her daughter walking up their driveway clutching her neck.

Neighbors told the family, as Alvarado walked to her car she was approached by a man and shot twice. Alvarado was simply going to pick up a friend and run some errands, Morales said.

Cortes, 25, of North Brunswick, has been charged with first-degree murder, one count of unlawful possession of a weapon in the second degree and one count of possession of a weapon for unlawful purposes in the second degree, according to authorities.

The owner of Tommy’s Tavern + Tap has filed a civil lawsuit against Sea Bright Township over the city’s revised noise ordinance.

The complaint alleges that the city’s new ordinance is “arbitrary, unreasonable, capricious and illegal,” according to the document filed by attorney Robert F. Munoz, who said he could not comment on a pending case.

The two limited liability companies, 1030 Partners and 1030 Liquor Partners, that manage Tommy’s Tavern and its managing partner Thomas Bonfiglio filed the complaint on May 18.

Sea Bright’s former noise law was repealed on July, 5 2016; its current law was adopted on April 4.

The suit lists multiple complaints against the city including, the new ordinance doesn’t explain what decibel level is unacceptable and the ordinance fails to provide training to individuals tasked with curbing excessive noise. The suit also points out people who violate the “ambiguous” restriction four or more times could face up to 90 days in jail.

“Loud talking” and “other continuous noise” emanating from any source can be considered in violation of the town’s new statute, the suit stated.

“The borough, through the adoption of its noise ordinance substantially destroys plaintiffs’ beneficial use of the property by the threat of imposing excessive fines, and even imprisonment, for violations of the noise ordinance,” the suit stated.

NJ Transit will divert Morris & Essex lines trains that would regularly go to New York Penn Station to Hoboken Terminal as Amtrak starts a massive track project in New York on Monday, NJ.com reported on July 10. On the first day of the “summer from hell,” an army of reporters braved the commute with workers and tourists traveling into the City.

A restoration project at Liberty Hall Museum’s wine cellar unearthed spirits 221 years old that had been shipped to the sleepy Elizabethtown cottage shortly after the American Revolution.

During the six-month revamp, the museum discovered almost three cases of Madeira wine from 1796 and about 42 demijohns from the 1820s.

Some of the original Madeira stock was shipped to the second generation who lived at Liberty Hall, in anticipation of John Adams’ presidency. Although Liberty Hall President John Kean was well aware of the wine collection, he couldn’t have imagined its historical significance.

“We knew there was a lot of liquor down here, but we had no idea as to the age of it,” said Kean, first cousin to New Jersey’s former governor. “I think the most exciting part of it was to find liquor, or Madeira in this case, that goes back so far. And then trying to trace why it was here and who owned it.”